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Frigid Firefighting – cont’d.

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More Firefighting From the Cold Front

WHEN THAT ARCTIC AIR SETTLED OVER NEW ENGLAND Sunday and Monday, there probably wasn’t any greater challenge than the apartment fire that faced the Lebanon, New Hampshire, firefighters shortly after 8:30 am on Monday morning while the outside temperature was minus-20º F.  (For you folks in Canada, that’s minus-29 C.)

An alarm was dispatched for fire in an apartment building and when the FD arrived they found a 3-story, balloon-framed building that houses 11 apartments.  They encountered heavy fire showing at the rear of the first floor.  The chief immediately called for a second alarm.

The Lebanon FD press release tells:

Units entered the second floor middle section of the building and were able to stop the spread of the fire to the rear portion of the structure. Due to ceiling and roof collapse units were ordered to fight the rear portion from the exterior. The building suffered major fire damage to the rear four apartments and moderate damage to the two middle units.

The remainder of the building sustained water and smoke damage. The fire was declared under control at 1105 hours. Units remained on scene awaiting the arrival of an excavator to assist in pulling the heavily damaged portion of the building apart so that units can extinguish “hot spots”.

There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire was found to be the building owner attempting to thaw some water pipes in the basement with a torch.

Report and photos provided by Lebanon Fire Department.
Lebanon Fire Department WEBSITE.

Posted by on January 26, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, weather • Tagged: , ,

Heavy Fire Showing in Waukesha

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Full Bloom Before FD Arrives

A FIRE BELIEVED TO HAVE STARTED IN A MATTRESS DESTROYED A 30-UNIT apartment building in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Saturday evening.  The first-due engine company is quartered just one block away and they were on the scene in two minutes, yet the fire had already advanced from the 2nd floor to the third and was into the attic area when they pulled up at the scene around 4:15 pm.

WITI-TV image taken shortly after the arrival of the FD

WTMJ-TV posted this image taken by a neighbor before the alarm
was transmitted showing the fire breaking out from the unit where
the fire started.

The tenant of the apartment where the fire began told his neighbors that he had just come out of the shower and found his mattress on fire.

The fire raced through the 3-story garden apartment and displaced all the tenants of the building.  The remarkable speed of fire growth led to a roof collapse later in the operation and required the assistance of five neighboring FD’s.  There were about 5 to 8 people trapped in their units and the firefighters had to evacuate them via ground ladders.

WISN-TV Ch. 12 posted this video report from the scene:

 

This video report from WTMJ-TV has some good fire footage in it.  About 10 to 15 seconds into the report you can see a unique view showing the fire station in the foreground with the blazing apartment building behind it.  The tv announcer doesn’t mention it, so you will have to watch for the brief glimpse:

 

The fire was marked under control after four hours, but the units were kept on the scene throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.

WITI-TV

Investigators have not yet gotten into the building as the FD is still working the hot spots as this report is being posted.

Posted by on January 16, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Apartment Fire Rescues in Frankfurt

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Dramatic Video of Person Trapped

AN APARTMENT FIRE IN THE Bornheim district of Frankfurt, Germany, Monday night led to some interior rescues and one man leaping from a window.  The fire was burning heavily in two units and spreading smoke and flames through the third floor, preventing the occupants from reaching the stairwell.

A man in a neighboring building called the fire dispatch and then, seeing two women panicking at their windows, turned on his video camera  and shouted encouragement to them to wait for the firefighters who were on the way. 

Meanwhile, in another section of the building a man panicked and jumped from a third-floor window just as the firefighters were inflating a rescue cushion.  But instead of landing on the cushion, the man fell onto the roof of a car.  Amazingly, he survived the crash but is hospitalized with his injuries.

Bild.de photo

This video begins with the man yelling at the trapped women and the dialogue is roughly:

Chris Bochtler, first on the phone while he watched the fire, “Hello, hello. What is it, who’s there?  Here’s just burning! ”

Woman from the dark: “Help!”

Bochtler on the balcony: “Yes, yes, we have called the fire department!”

Woman: “Help!”

Bochtler, “Fire brigade comes. We have called! ”

Woman coughing, “I no longer getting air.  Help, Oh God, hey … “

 

photo by Peter Knapp

The firefighters were able to reach both women and take them safely out of the building.  The second portion of the video shows the car that the jumper landed on and the inflatable cushion.

Peter Knapp photo

Bild.de has the STORY.
Franfurter Rundschau has MORE.

Posted by on January 6, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, rescue, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: ,

Major Fire Burning in Rahway

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Four-Alarms in New Jersey

A MAJOR FIRE IS CONSUMING A LARGE condominium apartment complex in Rahway, New Jersey, this morning.  The extensive 3-story structure is under construction, so there were no occupants when the fire was spotted at 1:30 am Tuesday morning.

WPIX

The response has been escalated to 4 alarms and the Rahway FD is surrounding the building and protecting the exposures.  At the time of this posting the fire was still burning out of control through the block.

FoxNews shot this aerial video just before dawn:

Fire Rages In Rahway: MyFoxNY.com

 

WABC-TV has also just added this video shot from their helicopter:

 

Emergency Stream has also posted some raw video with firground radio traffic included:

 

Once things have settled down, Firegeezer will update the story.

Posted by on January 4, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Chicago’s First Multi-Alarm of 2011

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CHICAGO’S FIRST MULTI-ALARM FIRE OF THE NEW YEAR was in an apartment house in the Southwest Side of the city.  The fire was reported around 10:30 am on Saturday with the caller advising that there were children trapped.  The blaze went to two alarms and left six people injured, three civilians and three firefighters.  The people trapped were a woman and her daughter, as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

Fire Department officials believe an outdoor cooking device is to blame for a fire in a Little Village apartment this morning that injured six people including a mother and her 7-year-old daughter.  Fire Chief Joseph Roccasalva said the mother and daughter had to be rescued by firefighters who got to a second-floor apartment by ladder.  He said that a second woman who lived in the building from was hospitalized after she complained of smoke once she had already escaped.

photo by Tim Olk

The women were in fair-to-serious condition while the girl was in serious-to-critical condition at area hospitals.  All had suffered from exposure to the smoke, Roccasalva said.

The fire officials are blaming an “outdoor cooking device” for starting the fire on or near a back porch that spread throughout the building.  The three firefighters all had non-life threatening injuries.

Read the account in the Chicago Tribune HERE.

As usual, ChicagoAreaFire.com had one of their top photographers on the scene.  Read their photo account of the fire HERE and then view Tim Olk’s 409-image photo gallery HERE.

photo by Tim Olk

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Posted by on January 2, 2011 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Rescues • Tagged: , , ,

Explosion Obliterates Ten Homes

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Pulse Journal

AN EXPLOSION THAT WAS FELT TWO BLOCKS AWAY rocked a Lebanon, Ohio, apartment development Tuesday night.  The blast and the resulting fire destroyed ten units in the complex.

Cincinnati Enquirer / Valerde

The initial explosion occurred shortly before 9 pm and blew out both sides of the 2-story building.  A woman and her 13-yr.-old daughter who live in the unit where the blast occurred were literally blown out of the building and suffered severe burns.  They are both hospitalized in critical condition but are expected to recover.  Five other people were injured and transported for a variety of injuries.

The fire grew rapidly and gutted the entire building.  WLWT-TV Ch. 5 filed this video report from the scene this morning:

 

The cause is still being investigted, but some neighbors are saying that the woman whose apartment blew up had recently moved in and had been complaining about a pilot-light problem with her stove.  More than 30 people have been left homeless.

Middletown Journal / Graham

The Middletown Journal has more details HERE.

Posted by on November 3, 2010 • Filed under: explosion, fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Nebraska Apartment Fire Takes Full Building

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A FIRE IN A BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA, APARTMENT COMPLEX burned out an entire 12-unit building early Saturday morning.

WOWT-TV image

The alarm was called at 3:45 am and the first units found the entire third floor fully involved.  All four Bellevue stations were on the job and several companies from Omaha Fire Department were called to assist. Despite the early hour, everybody was able to escape the fire safely.

The fire was knocked down not long after 6:30, but the loss was complete to the building that presented an approach challenge because it was in a wooded area.  A Bellevue FD spokesman said that the fire started in one unit after the resident turned on the oven to cook and then fell asleep.  The early estimate of loss is over $1 million.  No injuries have been reported.

Omaha World-Herald

WOWT-TV has a brief video and the REPORT.

Posted by on October 16, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , ,

Apartment Building Burns in Washington State

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A 2-ALARM FIRE COMPLETELY DESTROYED A 16-unit apartment building in Monroe, Washington, Sunday morning.

Everett Herald photo

The fire began in a ground floor unit of what was originally a hotel for railway workers and sent more than 30 residents running out at 1:50 am.  When the FD arrived on the scene there was already fire coming out the windows of the 3-story wood-frame building.  Firefighting efforts immediately started on containment and the firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings.

Monroe Police Dept. photo

Everybody escaped safely and there were no injuries reported.  The local Red Cross is assisting the victims in finding shelter and immediate needs.

The loss is estimated at $450,000 and the cause is still under investigation.  All of the tenants lost everything in their apartments.

The Everett Herald has the STORY.
KOMO-TV has MORE.

Google street view of the building

Posted by on October 4, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: ,

4 Children Die in Apartment Fire

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A FIRE SATURDAY MORNING IN AUXERRE, FRANCE, claimed the lives of four children who were trapped in their bedroom.  The alarm was received at 7:03 am and the fire units arrived in ten minutes where they found a fire on the top floor of a 4-story apartment building.

France 3

The firefighters made it into the burning apartment right away and located the children, ages 1, 6, 7 and 10 years.  However, they were already dead on the scene.  The two parents were hospitalized from smoke inhalation and two more family members, cousins, were treated and released.

While not yet definite, the investigators believe that the fire started in a light switch.

Le Pointe

BFM-TV filed  this brief video report:

France 3 has the STORY.
Le Pointe has MORE.

Posted by on October 2, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Fire Takes Entire Nashville Apartment Building

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A THREE-ALARM FIRE IN A NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, garden apartment complex Wednesday destroyed an entire building that contained 24 units.

WSMV-TV

The fire began around 11 am and when the FD arrived there was extensive fire throughout the building.  Partly due to the time of day, everybody self-evacuated and no injuries to any residents have been reported.

The Tennessean prepared this video report:

WSMV-TV Ch. 4 has more plus additional videos HERE.

This was the 2nd multi-alarm apartment fire of the day for Nashville FD.

Shortly after midnight Wednesday morning a fire took out 14 units of another complex sending 24 residents running outside ahead of the flames.

WTVF-TV Ch. 5 filed this video from the scene earlier:

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Posted by on September 30, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Venting Propane Feeds Apartment Fire

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A FIRE THAT STARTED OUTSIDE BURNED OUT at least ten apartments Wednesday night in Carmichael, California.  The 2-story complex had a small fire of unknown origin begin in the shrubbery near the building and as it grew it heated up a nearby propane tank causing it to vent.  People nearby are saying that they heard a hissing sound that was followed by an “explosion” that was felt as far away as a quarter-mile.

Sacramento Bee

The fire started around 6:30 pm and the first officer immediately called additional alarms because of the life hazard and 100º+ heat.  The SacMetro firefighters had the blaze contained by 7:30, but as many as ten units were completely destroyed.

News10 filed this video report from the scene:

KCRA-TV has MORE.

Posted by on August 26, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Apartment Fire Already a Crime Scene

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Update, 9:30 pm:  Police maintain crime scene.  Scroll down for details.

A MULTI-ALARM FIRE BROKE OUT AT 5:30 am this morning (Friday) in a Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, apartment complex.  At this posting, the fire has been knocked down, but all units are still working the job.

WHTM-TV

The fire destroyed at least 11 units in one building of the complex just north of the state capital of Harrisburg, and forced many residents to jump off their balconies to escape the flames.  One man has been hospitalized with burns.  At least 40 people have been displaced by the blaze.

It is being reported from news sources on the scene that the police have already declared the fire a crime scene, because of the severe injuries to the tenant who was flown to a burn center for treatment.

 The reporter on this video just filed by WHP-TV Ch. 21 provides a clue as to why that’s the case:

This is still a working fire scene and no further information is available yet.  We will update this report when we can.

Update, 9:30 pm:
The 25-yr.-old burn victim reportedly was saying that he had been attacked (view video above) before he was flown to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Unit in Allentown.  The police don’t know if he was just delusional from the shock and injuries, or if there was an actual attack.  They will not release any more information until after they get to talk to him.  The man is now in an induced coma while he is undergoing burn treatment.  Investigators are seeking anybody who knows this man or has any information about this incident.

Two firefighters were also hospitalized after the third floor roof collapsed on them, but they are expected to be ok.

WHP-TV filed this updated video report on the investigation this evening:

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Posted by on June 11, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Fatal Fire Races Through Dallas Apartments

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Update, Monday:  3rd body found.  Scroll down.

A WOMAN AND HER CHILD PERISHED Saturday morning when a fast-moving fire sailed through a Dallas, Texas, apartment building.  Seven other people were injured, five of them needing hospitalization, from their escape efforts.  The fire destroyed 37 of the 48 units in the 2-story building that was built in the early 1960′s without any firewalls in it.

 

WFAA-TV

The as-yet unidentified woman who died was reportedly in her mid-30′s.  Throughout the day Saturday firefighters combed through the extensive debris with the aid of a bulldozer taking the building apart piece by piece looking for any other possible victims.  At least 130 people have been displaced by the fire.

KTVT image

One resident of another building in the complex, Jose Moreno gives a gripping eyewitness account of the desperations encountered in the escapes that the occupants made before the arrival of the FD in this report from KTVT HERE.

All of the residents remarked that there never were any smoke alarms sounding in the building.  It was only the noise of people screaming and banging that woke them up.  According to authorities the building has a spotty and unfavorable record with code compiances.

KDFW-TC Ch. 4 has filed this video report:

WFAA-TV

Update, Monday morning:
Late Sunday afternoon some relatives of a resident approached investigators and told them that a man was still unaccounted for and gave them his apartment number.  A concerted search in that part of the debris later turned up the body of the victim, an adult male.

The remaining portions of the building were condemned by the building inspector and the entire structure has been demolished.

Source: Dallas Morning News.

Posted by on May 30, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

13 Injured in Los Angeles Apartment Fire

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A FIRE IN A 3-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING in downtown Los Angeles, California, left 13 people injured including a 2-yr.-old child with 3rd-degree burns.  Another victim was a woman who suffered a broken leg when she leaped from an upper-story window fleeing the flames.

LAFD a lafd harry garvin

LAFD photo by Harry Garvin

The heavy initial response by the FD brought 150 firefighters to the scene, the first units arriving in 3 minutes where they found fire showing from a 2nd-floor unit.  They immediately laddered the entire building and effected rescue activities while extinguishing the flames.  The fire was put out in less than 30 minutes.  The two injured victims remain in critical condition, but both are expected to survive.

The fire began Saturday morning around 8:45  in one of the building’s 42 living units and quickly filled the area with smoke causing a mild panic.  Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times that the blaze broke out on the second floor and residents used some creative efforts to escape. One person tied together a karate belt, a blanket and a power cord and tied the assemblage to a room fixture, Ruda said. He didn’t know whether anyone used the makeshift rope.

LAFD b lafd harry garvin

LAFD photo by Harry Garvin

The LAFD News website has the best article on the fire HERE.

CBS News has assembled these raw video clips:

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Posted by on May 9, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

3-Alarm Apartment Fire in Florida

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A FAST-RUNNING FIRE TRAVELED THE ROOF IN A LAUDERHILL, FLORIDA, apartment building Friday afternoon, destroying most of the 30-unit building.  The fire began shortly before 2 pm in a 3rd-floor apartment and then spread to the next unit as it also expanded into the attic which had no firewalls in it.

lauderhill b WFOR

WFOR-TV

When the FD first arrived on the scene they found fire showing through the roof and began an interior attack in the units where the fire was seated and in the area ahead of the flame travel.  But shortly the entire attic was afire and the roof started collapsing, bringing an evacuation order for the FF’s.

The fire was knocked down after 4 pm, but investigators will not be able to get inside until Saturday.

lauderhill a WSVN

WSVN-TV image

WSVN-TV has a video report HERE.
The Miami Herald has MORE.
WFOR-TV has a 68-image photo gallery HERE.

Posted by on May 8, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , ,

2 Firefighters Injured at Orlando Apartment Fire

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orlando a WFTV

WFTV image

A MAJOR FIRE IN AN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, apartment building Monday led to a roof collapse with firefighters inside, injuring two of them.  The fire began just before 8 am and the first unit was on the scene 4 minutes after dispatch.  They found the fire centered in a breezeway area that connects two sections of the building.  The initial attack was not making much progress because the fire had already gone through the roof. 

It was then that the roof collapsed and FoxTV reports:  Amy Hoop, a veteran firefighter, arrived on Engine 17 . She was helping hoist up a hose to her crew when the building came down. District Chief Mark Austin told us she never saw it coming.  “She saw just a flicker of debris, and then everything came down on her, all she saw was black, then orange, then she felt herself being pulled out.”

Hoop escaped with a knee injury and burns on her back. A second firefighter, Ed Henche, was treated for heat exhaustion. Both were released from the hospital.

This video provided by Fox TV catches the collapse right at the beginning of the clip:

Ten living units were destroyed in the fire, but five of them were unoccupied.  The cause is not yet determined, but it is not being considered to be suspicious.

Posted by on May 4, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Heat Drops FF’s at Apartment Fire

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AN APARTMENT BUILDING FIRE IN MATTHEWS, North Carolina, Friday afternoon left two firefighters injured and several more felled from heat-related causes.

matthews a WCNC

WCNC-TV

The fire was reported fairly promptly when residents began seeing smoke coming from the eaves of the 20-unit building around 4 pm.  A 2nd-alarm was struck immediately when the first units arrived and found fire already showing through the roof of the 3-story building.  The blaze brought over 50 firefighters from Matthews, Charlotte, and Idlewild who made a good stop and were able to confine the fire to one end of the building. 

matthews b WCNC

WCNC-TV

Two firefighters suffered injuries, one had minor injuries when a ceiling collapsed on him and the other had a back injury.  They were both transported for observation.  In addition, several FF’s were treated on the scene for heat-related issues.  All of the residents got out safely.

WCNC-TV Ch. 36 has this video report from their helicopter:

A Matthews FD spokesman said that the weather was a factor in the fire spread, with the heat and the winds that were blowing helping grow the flames in the older building.  Ten of the 20 units were either destroyed or made uninhabitable.  The entire building has been closed off to the residents until at least Monday when building engineers will look at its integrity.  The fire marshal does not yet know what caused the blaze.

matthews c WCNC

WCNC-TV

WBTV has MORE.
WCNC-TV has a 17-image photo gallery HERE.

Posted by on May 2, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Fatal Apartment Fire

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bordeaux a sud ouest

Sud Ouest photo

A FIRE IN AN APARTMENT IN BORDEAUX, FRANCE, early Thursday morning took the life of a 35-yr.-old man.  The fire destroyed six units in the 2-story building and caused the roof to collapse.  The victim was found in the bathtub after the fire was out underneath the rubble of the collapsed roof.  A neighbor reported that the victim, Eric Nirgire, 35, was last seen around 11 pm when he was assisted up the stairway in a state of drunkeness.

The fire brigade had a challenge entering the units due to a confusing configuration inside and the lack of access in the rear where the fire was focused.  The situation is evident in this video taken during the early stages of the fire attack: 

The fire was discovered by a police patrol around 3 am and was brought under control in 4 hours, but units remained for several hours more with the remnants of the fire. A total of 40 firefighters were called to the scene.   On Thursday morning a high-angle rescue team was brought in the secure the rear walls of the structure.  Fifteen tenants of the  building have been relocated.

Sud Ouest has  the STORY and another video.

Posted by on April 30, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Apartment Fire Claims 4 Children

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A FIRE IN AN APARTMENT UNIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT left four children dead and two adults injured in Fairfield, California.

fairfield a news10

News10 image

The fire in a 4-plex building was reported shortly after 9 pm Wednesday and immediately several neighbors grabbed nearby garden hoses and attacked the smoldering fire from the windows.  When the FD arrived about 3 minutes later, the fire was mostly out.  When they went inside for a search, they found three children dead and a fourth child that was transported died later at the hospital.

Two adult women in the unit escaped with some minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Investigators are still on the scene and nothing more is known about the incident yet.

KCRA-TV Ch. 3 Sacramento has this late video update:

News10 Sacramento has more HERE.

Posted by on April 29, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Indiana Roof Renewal

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A FIRE IN A SCOTTSBURG, INDIANA, APARTMENT BUILDING claimed the entire roof of the 16-unit residence Monday morning.

scottsburg a WAVE

WAVE-TV

The fire was reported around 9:30 am after smoke was seen coming from the building.  When the FD arrived on the scene the entire attic area was on fire.  Although the fire somehow breached the the firewalls, the responding departments had it under control in about 30 minutes.  Some early reports hint that the fire may have started in a 2nd-floor closet,  that has not been officially determined.

WLKY-TV Ch. 32 Louisville filed this video report:

No injuries have been reported, but the 15 families living there have all been displaced.  The entire 2nd-story was destroyed and the ground floor units were all heavily damaged.

WAVE-TV has the details of the story and another video report HERE.

Posted by on April 20, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Starkville Loses More Apartments

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THE SMALL CITY OF STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI, home to the Mississippis State University, suffered still another costly apartment fire on Sunday when two complete buildings that contained 24 living units were destroyed.

stark d WTVA

WTVA

The fire began in either a top-floor unit or the attic area around 10:20 am in Building A of the Campus Trails Apartments, a complex of 20 buildings.  The fire quickly ran the attic, destroying the 2nd- and 3rd-floors, then jumping to Building B before duplicating the damage there.  All of the residents, mostly college students, got out safely, but approx. 70 people have been displaced by the blaze.

WBLT-TV Ch. 3 filed this video report from the scene:

While the point of origin is pretty well narrowed-down, the cause is still under investigation.

The Commercial Dispatch has the STORY.
WTVA-TV has a 13-image photo gallery from The Reflector HERE.

Seven years ago, almost to the day, April 26, 2003, this same building burned to the ground after being sparked by what was described as a small explosion, although the exact cause was never identified.

Two weeks ago on April 6, Starkville firefighters battled a similar fire in another apartment complex that burned down three buildings and damaged four others.  That fire began when someone discarded a cigarette in a pine straw mulch bed.  Read that STORY HERE.

On December 28 this past year, Firegeezer filed a video REPORT HERE on an apartment fire in Starkville that was the worst life-loss fire in modern Mississippi history when nine people, six of them children, perished.

Posted by on April 19, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

A Study in Fire Spread

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A FIRE DESTROYED A 24-UNIT APARTMENT building in West Bend, Wisconsin, Friday afternoon.  The fire began around 4 pm in a top-floor apartment in the 2-story building and quickly got up into the common attic where it ran the course and burned out the entire building. 

west bend a WTMJ

WTMJ-TV

After making sure that all the occupants had gotten out, the FD pulled out and attacked the fire with outside streams while awaiting help from four other departments that were distant from the scene.

WTMJ-TV Ch. 4 Milwaukee had their news helicopter over the scene and documented the fire spread from its origin at one end of the building as it advanced through the entire roof.  The reporter back at the station laments that there is only one ladder and one engine on the scene of such a large fire (get used to it, Pal….Ed.) :

This second video picks up after the assisting departments arrive and begin pumping more water into the fire.  The studio host is still befuddled why there are so few fire engines there and the helicopter reporter wonders about the paucity of hose lines:

WITI-TV Ch. 6 has a 22-image photo gallery HERE.

west bend b WITI

WITI-TV

Posted by on April 3, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: ,

Naked Man Gets Fired Up

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RESIDENTS IN A SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, apartment building had to flee their residences around 2:30 am Wednesday morning as flames consumed a 1st-floor unit.  Shortly before the fire broke out, callers to 9-1-1 reported to the sheriff’s office that a naked man was chasing his girlfriend in the parking lot screaming he was going to “set the apartment on fire.”  When deputies arrived, they found smoke coming from the apartment and, after calling for the FD, fire started showing.

lake mary b WOFL-TV

WOFL-TV

The man ran away, but shortly after they began looking for him, 22-yr.-old Ryan Burkhart showed up wearing a pair of shorts that he’d gotten somewhere and turned himself in.  He was arrested for domestic battery on his girlfriend and is being questioned about the cause of the fire.

WOFL-TV Ch. 35 has the story in this video report:

WDBO Radio News has MORE.

Posted by on March 31, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Heavy Apartment Fire in Grand Rapids

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THE WYOMING, MICHIGAN, FIREFIGHTERS WERE busy working most of the night at an apartment fire in the Grand Rapids suburban community.  The fire got up into the attic area and burned off most of the top story and caused significant damage to the rest of the residences in the 32-unit building.

wyoming b wood humes

WOOD-TV / Humes

The units that were still on the scene later this morning had to lay out the supply lines again when a 3rd-floor unit rekindled, but it was handled ok.  Nobody was injured in the blaze, but there were some anxious moments when a physically-handicapped woman was unaccounted for, but she was later located outside.

WOOD-TV Ch. 8 has this updated video report on both incidents:

MLive.com has the STORY.

Posted by on March 19, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

4-Alarms at Charlotte Apartment Building

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A FIRE AT A CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, APARTMENT building Tuesday morning challenged the CFD with a night-rescue problem.  The 70-unit 4-story building was heavily damaged and firefighters rescued many upper-story residents by ground ladders.

charlotte a observer

Charlotte Observer

The fire was brought under control in 3 hours and aside from one civilian who was transported for observation, no injuries have been reported.

FireNews.net has the full story along with a response roster and a video report HERE.

Posted by on March 10, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: ,